Tractor Shortages

[Blue Mule]

You can't blame the Govt for low pay. Trucking companies are private businesses. That is a natural part of the free enterprise system we all love.

How can you afford to pay truckers well when your operating costs are going sky high due to the policy of the current administration which is causing inflation to balloon to levels we haven't seen in 32 years? The bottom line really changes when fuel is $4 a gallon and operating costs soar. Doesn't leave as much meat on the bone for payroll. This government is to blame for EVERYTHING right now. They're even responsible for the shut-downs that started the mess in 2020.

Another benefit for Toyota was that a defect later discovered in millions of parts or assemblies were not sitting in a warehouse only to be installed in the rest of that model year or more. By having a limited inventory, corrections were made so only a limited number of vehicles were affected. One notable exception being the frame rot on their pickups, a result of a lighter frame that was no match for road salt. Of course, they also stopped the line if a problem was discovered during assembly and a solution was found then and there by the workers, unlike the US brands which would push the defective cars out to the dealers to find a remedy. Germans would let the defect get to the end of the line where a team would make corrections before shipment to dealers and add that sometimes substantial cost onto the MSRP of the cars. All of this in a great book I read many years ago. And we wonder how the Japanese lines took over the auto industry.

A major drawback is that the consumer can't get exactly what they want. You cannot walk into a Toyota dealership and order a truck exactly the way you need/want it. And that's a big no-no to an American consumer who is about to drop $55,000 on a vehicle.

In addition to that, my father who is a heavy equipment mechanic tells me that Toyota's industrial division is hurting right now. Can't get parts, can't get equipment or machines, nothing.

 

[rScotty]

Took my Kubota BX25 in for service a couple weeks ago, and my dealer where I bought it has been expanding and getting bigger. The two nearest dealers close down, so now they have all the business! Still had very little inventory, and everything that I saw they said it was already sold or in for service.

Good idea, to get the subject back to something we know about....tractors.
When I took the afternoon trip last weekend and looked in on our JD and Kubota dealers they both had plenty of tractors on the lot. I have no idea if they were for sale or just sitting there, but there were plenty.
rScotty

 

[finn1]

Fuel prices are high because of all the drilling that was shut down three years ago when oil prices were actually negative because of no demand.

Something like 186 drillers went bankrupt. Guess what. No drilling happens when everyone is bankrupt. Fracking needs oil to be in the $50-80 / barrel range to be profitable. What part of that is so hard to understand?

We put our head in the sand and blame someone else because we’re too stupid to remember things that happened a couple of years ago.

 

[jmc]

Fuel prices are high because of all the drilling that was shut down three years ago when oil prices were actually negative because of no demand.

Something like 186 drillers went bankrupt. Guess what. No drilling happens when everyone is bankrupt. Fracking needs oil to be in the $50-80 / barrel range to be profitable. What part of that is so hard to understand?

We put our head in the sand and blame someone else because we’re too stupid to remember things that happened a couple of years ago.

Also, OPEC and Russia collaborated LAST YEAR to reduce oil supplies. Others delight in blaming this administration for higher gas prices...

 

[IndyJay]

Flurries here, what about where you are?
(Way off topic anyway, might as well talk about the weather).

 

[chinawall]

I ordered a windshield for my TYM cab in May...just got it Nov. 24

 

[Boss 302]

Here we go POLITICS, let's keep this about something most of us can speak intelligently about. TRACTORS

 

[Paystar]

Flurries here, what about where you are?
(Way off topic anyway, might as well talk about the weather).

Got three days of snow at home. Dying to try out my new RTV and Boss plow but ground isn't frozen yet and I don't want to make a mess. So just left it for now.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Here we go POLITICS, let's keep this about something most of us can speak intelligently about. TRACTORS

Agreed !!! Back to my color is better than your color...

 

[IndyJay]

Got three days of snow at home. Dying to try out my new RTV and Boss plow but ground isn't frozen yet and I don't want to make a mess. So just left it for now.

Same here, not cold enough to freeze the ground nor to drop the moisture out of the air, so it is a bone chilling cold.